Bruce Ashby is the chief executive of Oneworld and has just welcomed Qatar Airways to his alliance of 13 carriers, which includes American Airlines, British Airways and Qantas. Here, he tells The Wall Street Journal why alliances aren’t dying out as some suggest, and gives his view on Etihad’s strategy of buying stakes in other airlines.

WSJ: Emirates Airline is the biggest airline in the Persian Gulf, and Etihad Airways is hot on its heels. So why did you choose Qatar Airways?

Mr. Ashby: The business as we see it is to be the number one alliance to connect top business cities in the world. As it turned out, Qatar was highly complementary to our members. Most of our capacity is in places where very little of theirs is, and vice versa. They are very strong in the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East and Africa, relative to all of our current members.

WSJ: So which airlines are most likely to benefit from Qatar joining?

Mr. Ashby: Typically those carriers which are most connected with flights. British Airways is already flying to [Doha]. It will benefit faster than an airline that is far away and doesn’t fly to Doha. There’s no mystery to it.

WSJ: Did you have a conversation with Emirates and Etihad about joining?

Mr. Ashby: We have talked to almost every airline in the world at some point. But we focused primarily on Qatar in this discussion from a very early stage because it seemed like the best fit.

WSJ: Etihad has embarked on a strategy of forming direct alliances and taking equity stakes in carriers, while Emirates has tied up with Qantas. Is there another way to the traditional alliances?

Mr. Ashby: I would hate to say we have found the best way or the only way because it’s an industry that thrives on change, and yet I would point out that if you look at how passengers move between the top [100] cities of the world, over 80% of revenue is choosing to travel on alliance carriers. And that’s not by accident. That’s because business travelers like the benefits.

WSJ: It’s not worth taking equity stakes then?

Mr. Ashby: Now, is it possible to buy up stakes in other airlines and kind of pull together some rocks and sticks and a pot of glue and build a raft and see if it floats? Then yes, it might float, but it might not be preferred to a cruise ship in order to get to your destination. Time will tell if it’s seaworthy or not.

WSJ: You’ve been accused of being bureaucratic and cumbersome organisations?

Mr. Ashby: When you deal with 13 members with different views then there is a certain amount of formality in the process, but I would say we operate as an un-bureaucratic organization. I think people that would say it is binding, crippling or dying, or any of these adjectives that get thrown around, is really an overstatement.

WSJ: Finally, could we ever see low-cost carriers in Oneworld?

Mr. Ashby: I wouldn’t rule it out. But in order to be a member, an airline would have to fulfill the customer proposition, which would mean they would have to have the infrastructure and technology to allow for seamless check in and boarding passes, this type of thing. Many of these low cost carriers have not invested in any of the systems that can do that. That doesn’t mean they won’t, but it’s a several million dollar investment to move from where they are to qualify for membership. It won’t happen overnight.